Texas State football is heading into the 2025 season with momentum on their side, there’s no denying that. The Bobcat’s play football this month so it’s only warranted that we dive into what we can expect from their offensive skill players and how they plan on taking advantage of this momentum. There’s a lot of question marks at valuable positions, which leave the Bobcat fans with some slight concerns heading into the 2025-2026 season. We can only create educated guesses at this point, but the staff has given us a pretty good idea as to what we can expect to see on the offensive side of the ball.
Let’s start with the biggest question mark of the offseason and the most important position on the field – Quarterback. As mentioned in my other articles, Brad Jackson seems to lead the battle and has his eyes on week 1. Being committed since 2023, Jackson has the most experience in the program/scheme which makes him a somewhat easy decision for GJ Kinne and his staff. He gained valuable experience against a tough defense last year against ULM and the results showed for themselves. Although he did not get a chance to show off his arm, he managed to carry the ball 16 times for 119 yards and two touchdowns, eventually securing the win. Since we only got to see him drop back nine times in this game, here’s a clip of Jackson launching a dot in practice the other day.
SMU transfer QB Keldric Luster has been getting all the 2nd-team reps in practice and still has the opportunity to work his way up the depth chart. The only way I see that happening is if Brad Jackson underperforms or gets injured. Whatever happens, we have more roster issues at hand. Our running back room has a similar feel to it – Lincoln Pare is the most seasoned guy at the position and is coming off huge success at the end of the season. Pare tallied up nearly 250 yards and 3 touchdowns in the last two games of the season. He seems to be the guy heading into week 1 and has some hype surrounding him this offseason. Pare just got mentioned as a contender for the 2025 Doak Walker award. Check it out:
Although Lincoln Pare seems like he will be taking a lot of the workload in the backfield, don’t forget about Senior and UTEP transfer RB Torrance Burgess Jr. He didn’t get a ton of playing time last year, but he still averaged 6.1 yards per carry and proved his worth every time he stepped on the field. Burgess has also been getting high praise from his staff this offseason and has been seen breaking off long runs in practice. He’s small and quick, so expect to see him a lot on third down and passing situations. Combining Burgess and the recent addition of Rice transfer Taji Atkins could be lethal. Check out my recent piece for a deeper dive on Taji Atkins here: TXST Transfer News: Bobcats Land Rice RB Taji Atkins
Finally, we have our receiving core. Losing our top receivers from last year, Jaden Williams and Joey Hobert, the Bobcat’s WR room have some work to do. There are two breakout players I see in this room – Chris Dawn Jr. and Beau Sparks. Chris Dawn Jr. is another small guy, only listed at 5’7″ and 170 lbs. But I can guarantee you he doesn’t play like it. He’s a vertical threat but can also go up and attack the ball. He’s explosive but most importantly has unreal passion for the game. Here’s Dawn securing a touchdown grab last year.
Junior wideout Beau Sparks is the last name to remember. He’s nearly got “breakout star” written on his forehead. Sparks averaged 10.5 yards per reception last year in a very crowded wide receiver room. He now has the opportunity at likely 3x more targets while also apparently showing tremendous growth in the offseason. Sparks has waited his time, and I believe the results will show this season.
The Bobcats have solid depth at these skill positions so you can expect to see some other names we didn’t mention make a big impact this year. There will be some ups and downs while GJ Kinne and his staff work through this new roster, but myself and the Bobcat faithful have full confidence it will result in another bowl game trophy. Go Cats.
Comments
One response to “TXST Football Preview: Offensive Skill Players to Look Out For”
Glad to see Brad Jackson getting his chance.